As noted in the Section 1 of this report, in addition to its Teacher Preparation and Initial Certification Program, the Isabelle Farrington School of Education is endorsed by the Connecticut Department of Education in the areas of Intermediate Administration and Supervision (092 Certification), and Remedial Reading/Remedial Language Arts (102 Certification) for the development of other professional school personnel. The Unit’s programs for these other roles prepare the Candidates to know their fields and have the ability to explain the principles and concepts delineated in professional, state and institutional standards.
REMEDIAL READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS PROGRAM
The overall goal of the Remedial Reading/Remedial Language Arts Program is to prepare Candidates to lead educators and school districts into the best practices of school reform available in the 21st century. The program prepares graduates to promote literacy in a variety of positions within a school system. Their training gives them the skills to lead staff development, run intervention clinics, chair appropriate departments, manage summer programs, write grants or provide all of these services in single school settings. Candidates study reading and language from a much broader perspective than that of a classroom teacher. Such study includes systemic evaluation and programming, the training and supervision of professionals and paraprofessionals and the utilization of community resources. Further, Candidates are expected to develop competence through a supervised summer school practicum in an urban setting and a clinical experience in a university-based diagnosis and remediation center (clinic). Graduates of the program are prepared to assume a leadership role in any school system seeking expertise in the area of Reading and Language Arts, to perform independent research or to pursue doctoral study. There is no state-mandated test for content knowledge for licensure; however, the Unit employs a variety of assessments throughout the program to evaluate the knowledge, skills and dispositions of Remedial Reading/Remedial Language Arts Candidates.
Competency Assessment Reports (CAR)
Content knowledge and knowledge of applicable standards in the Remedial Reading/Remedial Language Arts Program are further assessed through the use of course-embedded Competency Assessment Reports (CAR). The evaluations associated with the course-specific CARs are aligned with both the Unit’s Conceptual Framework and with the Specialty Practice Area requirements of each program. For the Remedial Reading/Remedial Language Arts Program, the CAR for EDR 505: Early Reading and Language Arts Success, Criteria 1, 2, 6, 7, and 8 evaluate the Candidate’s content knowledge and knowledge of standards. An overview of Candidate evaluations in these Competency Assessment Reports is presented in Table 7. The rubrics, criteria and instruments associated with these CARs can be found in the Exhibit Room.
Standard 1 Table 7: Remedial Reading/Remedial Language Arts Program
CAR: EDR 505
|
|
Criteria1
Content |
Criteria 2 Content |
Criteria 6 Content |
Criteria 7 Content |
Criteria 8
Content |
|
Mean |
2.92 |
3.00 |
2.69 |
2.77 |
2.62 |
Criteria 1: Psychological, Sociological and Linguistic Foundations
Criteria 2: Reading Research and Histories of Reading
Criteria 6: Learning Process
Criteria 7: Human Growth and Development
Criteria 8: Diverse Learners
Survey of Program Graduates
A survey of the graduates of the Unit’s Remedial Reading/Remedial Language Arts Program was conducted early in 2008. The survey instrument consisted of fourteen items, each based on a three point scale of 3 = Above Average, 2= Average and 1 = Below Average. Items 1 and 2 of the survey address content knowledge. The results of the survey which was mailed to thirty graduates and responded to by twenty-five can be found in Table 8.
Standard 1 Table 8:
Survey of Graduates of Remedial Reading/Remedial Arts Program
|
Areas |
N |
Target |
Acceptable |
Unacceptable |
|
Content Area
1. Knowledge of current state and national standards
2. Depth of Content Knowledge |
25
25 |
17
18 |
7
7
|
1
0 |
|
INTERMEDIATE ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION PROGRAM
Sacred Heart University is one of seven universities in the state of Connecticut with an accredited program in Educational Leadership leading to the Intermediate Administrative Certification (092). Over the last 5 years The Isabelle Farrington School of Education program has recommended more than 700 Candidates, for administrative certification.
The Unit’s Intermediate Administration and Supervision Program is aligned with the five Proficiencies articulated in the Unit’s Conceptual Framework, as well as with the Connecticut State Department of Education Standards for School
Leaders standards (CSSL) and the national Educational Leadership Constituents Council’s standards (ELCC). While the coursework in the program is rigorous in content, providing Candidates with a strong professional knowledge base, the emphasis is on applying this new content knowledge to real life and diverse educational situations. The comprehensive curriculum encompasses all aspects related to effectively leading today’s schools, including but not limited to: systems thinking; school improvement process; assessment; instructional supervision, evaluation and professional development; legal, ethical and political issues, communications and human relations, technology; and organization and management. Because of this broad exposure, Candidates are not only able to develop and refine their professional skills, but are also able to reflect upon their own behaviors, and personal and professional dispositions in these ever-changing educational environments. In every course, Candidates become actively involved in authentic and current case studies, assuring that the Candidate receives practice in working in a dynamic educational environment. Multiple performance-based assessments are used to measure a Candidate’s competencies related to both the state and national leadership standards.
Connecticut Administrator Test (CAT)
The Connecticut State Department of Education (CSDE) began the administration of the Connecticut Administrator Test (CAT) in September 2001 and requires that all Candidates pass the test before they can be recommended for 092, Intermediate Administrative Certification. Between March 2005 and August, 2007 a total of 302 Candidates took the CAT test for the first time. Of these, 89.74% (271 Candidates) successfully passed the CAT on the first try.
Competency Assessment Reports (CAR)
Content knowledge and knowledge of applicable standards in the Intermediate Administration and Supervision Program, is further assessed through the use of Competency Assessment Reports (CAR). utilized in EDL 650: Law and Finance Case Study which covers knowledge of content and standards. Table 9 presents the data on the assessment of Candidates in EDL 650. The rubrics, criteria and instruments associated with the CAR for EDL 650 can be found in the Exhibit Room.
Content knowledge and knowledge of applicable standards in the Intermediate Administration and Supervision Program, is further assessed through the use of Competency Assessment Reports (CAR) utilized in EDL 650: Law and Finance Case Study which covers knowledge of content and standards. Table 9 presents the data on the assessment of Candidates in EDL 650. The rubrics, criteria and instruments associated with the CAR for EDL 650 can be found in the Exhibit Room.
Standard 1 Table 9
CAR: EDL 650 Education Law and Finance
Intermediate Administration and Supervision Program
|
N |
Target |
Acceptable |
Unacceptable |
Pending |
|
144 |
73 |
61 |
0 |
10 |
Survey of Program Completers
In the spring of 2007 the Unit initiated a survey of individuals who had completed its Intermediate Administration and Supervision Program between 2003 and 2006. The purpose of the survey was to generate data relating to the effectiveness of the Program in providing Candidates with the requisite skills and knowledge to become effective educational leaders in Connecticut’s schools. In total, 360 questionnaires were sent via e-mail. The number of completed and tabulated responses was 73 for a return rate of 20.27%.
Section one of the survey instruments was intended to develop data relating to the success of the program in aiding students to gain an understanding of the standards that Connecticut sets for its school leaders. In coherence with the Unit’s Conceptual Framework, those standards were divided by the Program into five categories: Context, Content, Learner, Pedagogy, and Educator. Each graduate was asked to rate the Intermediate Administration and Supervision Program based on their belief that they were Well Prepared, Adequately Prepared, or Poorly Prepared relating to a series of questions posed in each category. In the area of Context (Understanding the context of the profession) respondents were asked to rate the extent to which the Unit’s program prepared them to understand program effectiveness, staff productivity, and learning for all students and to supervise and evaluate professional personnel in order to provide staff development and assist in improved teaching and learning for all students. To these issues 95.45% of the graduates responded that they were well or adequately prepared. Relating to Content (Knowledge necessary for successful practice in the profession), respondents were asked to rate the program based on the extent it helped them to develop a vision of the educated person and monitor the achievement of goals. Once again, 95.45% of the graduates responding said they were well prepared or adequately prepared. The data from these surveys attests to the quality of the Unit’s programs and the preparedness of its Candidates.
As evidenced from the data presented above, the Unit’s Candidates possess the content knowledge and knowledge of the standards of the areas in which they will practice.
Previous Page Back to Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Next Page
Font Size:      E-mail Page:  Print Page:  |
Previous Page
Back to Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions
Next Page